Atheism and poor relationships with parents
The Cambridge Companion to Atheism which was edited by the atheist philosopher Michael Martin declared:
| “ | Continuity and discontinuity in any identity may be a function of interpersonal networks, especially involving intimate relations. Apostasy and conversion can both be seen as a rejection of parental identity and parental beliefs. It “might well be symptomatic of familial strain and dissociation... apostasy is to be viewed as a form of rebellion against parents” (Caplovitz and Sherrow, 1977:50).[1] | ” |
A troubled/non-existent relationship with a father can influence a person to become an atheist.[2] Dr. Paul Vitz wrote a book entitled Faith of the Fatherless in which he points out that after studying the lives of more than a dozen leading atheists he found that a large majority of them had a father who was present but weak, present but abusive, or absent.[3][4] Dr. Vitz also examined the lives of prominent theists who were contemporaneous to their atheist counterparts and from the same culture and in every instance these prominent theists had a good relationship with his father.[5] Dr. Vitz has also stated other common factors he observed in the leading atheists he profiled: they were all intelligent and arrogant.[6]
The book Atheist Persona: Causes and Consequences by John J. Pasquini, Th.D. indicates that many of the prominent atheists (and prominent practical atheists) who had dysfunctional/absent fathers that he lists in his book also had dysfunctional/absent mothers.[7]
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Atheism has a lower retention rate than other worldviews
See also: Atheism has a lower retention rate compared to other worldviews
In 2012, a Georgetown University study was published indicating that only about 30 percent of those who grow up in an atheist household remain atheists as adults.[8] Similarly, according to recent research by the Pew Research Forum on Religion and Public Life, in the United States, a majority of those surveyed who were raised in atheist or agnostic households, or where there was no specific religious attachment, later chose to join a religious faith.[9][10]
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Notes
- ↑ The Cambridge Companion to Atheism, edited by Michael Martin, page 302, published in 2006
- ↑ http://www.leaderu.com/truth/1truth12.html
- ↑ Vitz, Paul, The Psychology of Atheism, September 24, 1997 (lecture notes taken by an audience member).
- ↑ Anders, Kerby, Atheists and Their Fathers (Probe Ministries)
- ↑ http://www.columbia.edu/cu/augustine/arch/vitz.txt
- ↑ http://www.columbia.edu/cu/augustine/arch/vitz.txt
- ↑ Atheist Persona: Causes and Consequences by John J. Pasquini, 2014, University Press of America, page 3
- ↑ http://www.christianpost.com/news/study-atheists-have-lowest-retention-rate-compared-to-religious-groups-78029/ Study: Atheists Have Lowest 'Retention Rate' Compared to Religious Groups
- ↑ http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/opinion/defectors-to-faith-mark-a-growing-trend/story-e6frg7ko-1225710667095
- ↑ http://pewresearch.org/pubs/1204/religion-changes-affiliations-survey
